Guardians Are Running Out of Time, Not Belief in October Baseball

The Guardians sit five games back as they won their first series in over a month by beating the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Thursday afternoon.

Aug 20, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians center fielder Petey Halpin (0) and left fielder Steven Kwan (38) and right fielder Angel Martinez (1) celebrate after the Guardians beat the San Francisco Giants at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cleveland Guardians are running out of time, but not out of confidence. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt believes that his team will make the playoffs this October despite being 11-20 since the all-star break and 4-9 since the trade deadline.

The Guardians are third in the division with a 5 game deficit and trail the last wild-card spot by one game. Despite the sloppy play and lack of offense Vogt said before the Guardians 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, “we don’t have any plans to go home in October.”

The Guardians are fighting with seven other ball clubs to win the third wild-card spot. They would have to leap over two other teams in their own division to take home the crown. As we saw last year, anything is possible; however, what happened last year never happened before in 123 years of major league baseball. 

They have lost five of their last six series and notwithstanding the hitters acquired at the trade deadline, their offense remains one of the worst in all of baseball. The Guardians are second to last scoring just 502 runs all season. Their bullpen has not been as automatic as it has been in seasons past. So what gives Vogt confidence that his club will be playing fall baseball come playoff time?

Stephen Kwan got off to the worst start of his career. He lost his leadoff spot in the order and his plate discipline looked non-existent for the first two months of the season. Then July happened. He batted .403 in July and is batting .322 in August. If the Guardians can turn it around offensively, Kwan will have to set the table at the top of the order. Right now he is doing that and it's up to the rest of the lineup to drive him home. 

Newly acquired Jo Adell has three home runs since joining the team. He had a 455-foot smash, three quarters up the left-field bleachers, in Tuesday night’s game. He had to leave the game early due to fouling a ball off of his knee, causing soreness. Should his bat return to the lineup then there is a game-changing home run opportunity when he approaches the plate. Chase DeLauter has been sidelined with a sore hamstring. He has had a strong rookie season, batting .286 and his bat will be welcomed back. 

The Guardians have struggled to score with runners on base.

The hits have been more consistent since the trade deadline, but they are getting the big hits when they need them. If a player or two can get a big hit and let the pressure valve open, then hitting with runners on base could get contagious. 

For all the offense woes, the starting pitching has not had a letdown. Parker Messick is going to  earn some second or third Cy Young votes with how well his rookie season is going. Gavin Williams has had a historic streak of strikeouts and has been amazing. Recently traded for, Foster Griffin was shaky in his first start with the team, but has been improving every start since. The pitching will keep them in ball games and if they can eke a couple runners home, then the team should be set up for success. 

The Guardians are entering a portion of their schedule to allow them to build some momentum.  They play four straight series against opponents that are not in the playoff hunt. They just finished a series against  the last-place Giants, then they go to the Colorado Rockies. After that, they head out west to play the Los Angeles Angels, then welcome the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays. The upcoming opponents provide them with an opportunity to go on a run to end this month and start September. They would have to win a good majority of those games, but it can be done. 

So is Vogt delusional when he says that he does not plan to go for a beach vacation in October? Not necessarily. It is a tough hill to climb and anyone watching the team will say it looks impossible right now. Vogt is hoping his messaging is sticking like it did during last season’s comeback. The odds are stacked against them and the time is waning, but if things go right, Vogt will be managing into October for his third-straight season.